Orioles' Opening Day game at Yankees on March 28 to be televised on ESPN

The Orioles' March 28 visit to Yankee Stadium on Opening Day will be a 1:05 p.m. first pitch and televised nationally on ESPN, Major League Baseball announced Wednesday.

With an afternoon start on what's being referred to as traditional Opening Day — the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners play the previous week in the Tokyo Dome — the Orioles will play three afternoon games in New York during their first road trip of the season.

Their counterparts, the Orioles, don’t necessarily have an on-field avatar to represent...

While the nation will be getting its first wide-scale look at an Orioles team under new manager Brandon Hyde, ESPN might also be betting that the Yankees have a star like Manny Machado or Bryce Harper in pinstripes to complement their signings of Troy Tulowitzki and former Oriole Zach Britton.

March 28 marks the earliest date for a regular major league Opening Day. The previous earliest regular start was March 30 in 2003, 2008 and 2014.

The Orioles then travel to Toronto for a three-game set before coming home to Baltimore to face the Yankees again at 3:05 p.m. on Thursday, April 4.